


Birthday parties

by Azemex



Series: a-Stayin alive [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Humor, Janet is a Wilson, Janet is alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24401404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Azemex/pseuds/Azemex
Summary: “Alfred, was I invited this year?”“I’m sorry Master Bruce but you were not”Bruce scowls, he doesn’t pout like Alfred says.Anyway, why would he? Is not like he wants to go to a kid’s party anyway.It’s not like it's the third year on the row that he’s not invited, he doesn’t care.And if he goes out of the way to greet the Drakes from now on, well, they are kind of neighbors, right?(Bruce wants to go to a party, Janet plans for her Welcome Back party.spoiler alert: Bruce is not invited)
Series: a-Stayin alive [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1702195
Comments: 17
Kudos: 114





	1. Parties

**Author's Note:**

> You have to read the first work! They will all be connected  
> Enjoy it !!!

He is in one of his late night runs pre-patrol when he notices it.

A bunch of cars parked close to the Manor, the soft hum of music and the murmur of voices.

All those sounds are not strange to him, what is strange is that they are too close to his house but not _in_ his house at the same time.

In conclusion, there is a party.

And apparently he is not there.

It’s a very strange and new sight.

Strange because while he has been on this point of view, out of a party, observing them, it was always when he is wearing the cape, never as Bruce Wayne. It’s something new.

He turns back to his run, warming up for patrol, he’ll ask Alfred later about the party next door.

Yeah, he’ll do that.

* * *

Only after washing up the last dirt of Gotham he remembers his question.

When he goes upstairs he finds Alfred, who, as always, is up waiting for him.

He must notice something on Bruce’s face because he speaks first.

“Is everything all right Master Bruce?”

“Yes Alfred, I was just wondering if you knew about the party next door”

At that Alfred smiles warmly and Bruce blinks.

“I do know, yesterday was Timothy Drake’s first birthday, the Drake’s organized a party for him starting late evening, sir”

Bruce nods. “Late evening” he repeats, estimating that while he would have been able to go to the party he would have lost precious hours of rest, “I suppose either way I was not going, well, thanks for answering Al–”

Alfred interrupts him. “You were not invited, sir” 

They frown at each other, a slight turn in their eyebrows, a movement no one would notice but them.

“I was not invited” he repeats it, sounding like a statement, but Alfred knows him well enough to know that is a question.

“I found out about the party last week during my meeting with Mrs. Mac, she informed me that Mrs. Drake intended the party to be small and Mr. Drake agreed with her, only family and close friends would attend”

Oh, okay, that’s okay, right? It’s not like he would have gone to the party anyway.

_But_ , in the case that he had had the chance to go it didn’t matter because they _didn’t_ invite him.

No big deal, it’s just a kid’s party, not a gala or a wedding.

Not important at all.

_Right?_

As he walks through the halls of the Manor he can’t stop thinking about it, why didn’t they invite him? He’s very pleasant company, he knows when to make small talk and when to let other people talk to make them feel good.

He’s nice, he likes kids, well _,_ he _thinks_ he likes kids, they look…small, nice company, those little pals, and usually smell like fruits and sweet things, most of the time.

He doesn’t notice Alfred observing his internal turmoil, nor the smile on his old butler when he notices his scowl—which Alfred calls a pout, but Bruce doesn’t pout anymore, he’s on his early twenties, a whole adult—, he doesn’t notice because he is planning on how to get to the Timothy’s second birthday party.

* * *

He doesn’t get invited to Timothy’s second birthday party.

Not a problem, he wasn’t planning on going anyway.

* * *

Bruce taps his fingers on the steering wheel following the rhythm of the music.

July 19th.

Today he is planning on inviting Selina Kyle out. He inhales, he can do this, he only has to drive to her place, ask her if she is busy tomorrow night and invite her to the circus.

Easy, he exhales.

His plan is repeating itself inside his mind, there’s no way he can screw this up.

But even if he can’t it doesn’t mean someone else can’t.

He frowns at the sight in front of him.

Two people are having a staring match in the middle of the street. He pinches his nose bridge, closes his eyes and counts to 25.

They are still there.

He considers pressing the horn of the car for a moment, but dismisses it as soon as he considers it, he is still close to the Manor, he’s not risking it, Alfred would find a way of knowing Bruce did it and reprimand him about his manners.

He sighs and steps out of the car.

“Hello, is everything okay?” 

“Move along, this is none of your business” the man, who doesn’t look as old as his white hair indicates, says, one of Bruce’s eyebrows go up.

“It is when I can’t cross the street because of you two”

“You can go run him over, I don’t think anyone would be sad about it” the woman smirks, probably imagining Bruce doing what she said.

“Look ma’am–“ she interrupts him.

“Dinah”

He sighs. “Look Dinah and–“ the man interrupts him this time.

“Slade”

He sighs again. “Right, why don’t you two take it somewhere else than in the middle of the street? I’m running late”

They decide to ignore him. 

“What did you bring him _Slade_ ? Another one of your _swords_?” She tilts her hips.

“It’s probably better than what you brought him”

“You don’t even know what a three year old likes, I don’t know why you think you are his favorite uncle, _you are not_ ”

“I don’t think I’m his favorite uncle, _I know_ , who did he fall asleep on last month? Was it you? _No_ , it was _me_ ” he smirks.

“Really? Do you know who he called last week because he needed help?”

Slade’s smirk disappears. “ _No_ ” he whispers.

“ _Yes_ ” she hisses.

_Why_ _does he even try?_

The only good thing is that Alfred would be proud of him right now.

He tries again to get them out of the road, but to his unsurprising luck, they ignore him, or don’t even notice him, probably the latter.

He sighs for what feels like the ten time this day and turns around. As he gets back into the car he resolves to go back to the Manor and call Selina as soon as he arrives instead.

“Hey Brucie, miss me?” She purrs on the phone as soon as she answers.

He smiles. “Of course, what about you?”

“Always, _oh no, Tim baby, that’s not yours, it isn’t mine either but it doesn’t matter, let go darling_ ”

“Selina?” he interrupts her.

“Sorry Bruce, I’m a little busy at the moment”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry your pretty head, I’m just looking out for this beautiful gentleman over here”

He frowns. “Really?” 

“Yes, he’s only 3 years old but already has more manners than you and I combined”

_3 years old._

_Oh shit._

“Are you at the Drake’s party?”

“Yes, how did you know?” He can hear her smirk over the line.

Bruce presses his head against the table and grunts, he doesn’t see it but when Alfred passes he shakes his head and takes a picture.

“I heard someone else talk about it”

“Well, yeah, I’m here, I’m close friends with Janie, _yes honey, Janie is your mom, that’s her, the blonde one over there, yes, I remember when her hair used to be black, ugh, I don’t know why she did that to her hair, she said she was trying to get used to it for the future, but I don’t understand Timmy, she still has a long time before she gets grey hairs_ ” 

He interrupts her. “So, Selina, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tomorrow night”

“Oh, Bruce! Sure, let me know tomorrow at what time and I’ll be ready for you” she hangs up and Bruce sighs.

“Alfred, was I invited this year?”

“I’m sorry Master Bruce but you were not”

Bruce scowls, he doesn’t pout like Alfred says.

Anyway, why would he? Is not like he wants to go to a kid’s party anyway.

It’s not like it's the third year on the row that he’s not invited, he doesn’t care.

And if he goes out of the way to greet the Drakes from now on, well, they are kind of neighbors, right? Even if they don’t live there and only use the house for parties and galas.

He doesn’t have a lot of time to think about it though, because something else happens.

The Flying Grayson falls.

Leaving Dick Grayson an orphan.

And as Bruce already said, he likes kids.

* * *

As soon as she gets back into the Manor she looks for a phone.

She has to make a few calls, but first of all, she _needs_ her.

The phone rings three times before they answer.

“Hello Janet” the familiar woman’s voice answers.

Janet smiles. “Are you working right now Mrs. Mac?”

“Not currently, my late husband left a sum of money enough for me to live without working anymore”

Janet smirks. “And your daughters?”

“My daughters are married and living with their husbands out of the country”

“Is it right for me to assume that you’d like to come back to work for me then?”

“You would be right, I’ll be there tomorrow morning”

“Goodbye”

“Good night Ms. Wilson”

She hangs up and realizes two things.

She never told Ms. Mac where she is now, nor that her last name is Wilson.

God, she _loves_ that woman.

  
  


She thinks about the old computer in Jack’s office, it was his, and he instructed them to never touch it, apparently holding important files that he wouldn’t like to miss.

But he is dead, he drank the same poison she did, so he is obviously dead, right?

She wrinkles her nose, she hates not knowing everything.

She died when Tim was 14, and as soon as she finds out Tim’s age she’ll know how long she has been dead.

Easy, right?

* * *

_  
4 years._

Jack didn’t die with her.

And he married someone who suspiciously looks a lot like her when she had her hair blonde, she smirks, then rolls her eyes, trust Jack to make her happy about him getting married.

What enrages her though, is Tim’s currently last name.

_Tim Drake-Wayne._

She sighs, _oh darling, you could have done better_.

Now, she squints her eyes at the monitor, _where are those who were entitled to make sure that he did better._

* * *

The rest of the night is spent making multiple calls.

The Head of her PR Department is the first one, she’s glad that is still the same person she handled 4 years ago.

“Hello?”

“Hello Kira” Janet smiles at the silence coming from the phone.

“Ms. Janet, it’s a pleasure to hear from you again, it has been 4 long years” she can hear a rustle of the smashing of a keyboard. “Which plan do you want me to start with?”

“Plan Number 12, Kira”

“Starting Plan Number 12 ma’am, is there anything else?”

Janet rests her back against Jack’s seat.

“I want you to tell me everything about the company, starting since I died”

* * *

_New Group created._

**_Janet Drake_ ** _added_ **_Baby Brother_ ** _and_ **_Black B_ **

**Today** 06:30 AM

**Janet Drake** _:_

Drake Manor.

Arrive at most tomorrow morning.

I’ll be waiting for you and your excuses.

_Seen by Everyone._

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, I hope you liked this, I did, lol, see ya in the next ch


	2. New Data

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hello little brother, I missed you too” the person smiles, standing with all their glory.
> 
> _Janet Drake._
> 
> Fuck.
> 
> She turns to point at Slade.
> 
> “This is your fault” she pokes his chest. “Your fucking family fault, if I had known you were siblings with Janet I would have never allowed Jack to marry her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy it👀

“I have a guess about who it is,” Slade says when she calls him a few hours after they received the text.

“Well? Who is it?”

“I want to wait until we arrive” Dinah sighs at those words.

“Have you talked to the kid?” he tries to change the topic, that is obvious, but still takes her by surprise.

She frowns at the phone then turns her eyes to the road, it will do her no good to crash against someone because of Slade.

“The kid?”

“Yes, _the kid_ , I heard he’s been calling himself Red Robin these days”

Oh, _the kid._

“Yeah, I heard that too, his step brother is close to Roy, sometimes he tells me what’s going on in Gotham” Slade hums. “I haven’t talked to him since the funeral though, and even that was through a phone call, I don’t, I don’t remember the last time I saw him without our masks if I’m being honest”

“I think it was in his 13th birthday”

“The Unlucky number”

He says. “I gave him a bo staff that day”

“I gave him a detective book,” she continues.

Slade curses.

“We created Robin”

She suddenly stops the car in the middle of the road, the cars behind her start honking.

“ _Fuck,_ we created Robin” 

* * *

“ETA 10 minutes”

She sighs. “I’m in front of the house, I’ll wait for you inside the car” he hangs up.

She texts Oliver letting him know that she is about to meet her friend, she told him yesterday that she was visiting an old friend in Gotham and didn’t know how long she would stay. He answers immediately with a heart emoji, she smiles and wonders again who texted them.

_Was it Tim?_

Dinah remembers being close to him when he was younger, the boy clinging to her words of a world outside of Gotham. Sometimes teaching him some ways to train his body.

And _that_ should have been a clue.

She sighs and checks the clock, 5 minutes have passed.

She thinks about what Roy has told her.

_“Yeah, Gotham right now is a mess, I don’t recommend you to go, apparently they found out some things about one of them and are all on their toes”_

_“One of them?” she asked, wondering which one, perhaps Dick, he always manages to get in trouble, or it could be Cassandra, for what Barbara told her, she doesn’t live in Gotham anymore, they probably don’t know what’s going on in the girl’s life._

_“Uh-huh, the one who keeps taking Jay’s names, mm, Red Robin, I think” Roy kept talking about the vigilante’s suit, mainly his cowl, but she didn’t hear any of it._

Red Robin.

_Red Robin who is_ Tim Drake _, Dinah’s nephew._

_She took a deep breath. “What did they find out about him?” could it have been that they found out their family relationship?_

_Oh god, Slade and Tim’s relationship?_

_“Apparently he lost an organ, eh, which one was it?” Roy started typing on his phone, unaware of the heart attack that he was giving to his step mother. “Was it a kidney? No, Jason said that it was something about the blood. Oh! The spleen, right, he lost his spleen”_

_“Oh, the spleen” she repeated. “How did he lose it?”_

_“Uh, something about Ra’s Al Ghul and assassins, Jay said that they were a different type of assassins, but I wasn’t really paying attention at that point, to be honest, I had found some new models to test that day” he finally turned to look at her. “You okay?”_

_She nodded. “Yes, sweetie, I think I’m gonna order take out, you want something?”_

_“Nah, Connor is about to arrive, we were planning on going out to the new pizza place and then patrol together”_

_“Have fun you two, if you see Mia tell her to give me back my fishnets”_

_“Sure, only if you remind Oliver that he sucks”_

_She laughed. “Deal”_

She remembers that a few days after that she sent Tim some rolls for his camera and received a text thanking her.

She jumps at the knock on her window, and then relaxes when she sees who it is.

“Get in the car” she mouths.

He smiles and opens the door. “It’s been a long time Dinah”

“Not long enough”

“Finally got a clue on who reunited us?” Slade asks as he starts taking out his gun.

“I was thinking on Tim but from what I heard he was living in the Wayne Manor”

Slade scoffs. “If your intel is from when he was Robin, then yes, _sure_ , he is living at the Wayne Manor”

She turns to scowl a thim. “Well, what does your intel say then?”

“He’s been living at his apartment for a year and a month” he glances at Wayne Manor.

“I didn’t know he had an apartment” she mutters.

“I bet you can’t guess where it is” 

“Where?” Slade’s looks at her, one of his eyebrows going up, _Do I really need to tell you?_ It says. “No, _no,”_ he laughs. “ _Really?_ God, Tim, I didn’t know he was as fucked up as us”

“That kid is something else, yeah, not only he lives in Hood’s section but he built his place _there”_

“There?” What else can be worse than Crime Alley?

He nods to where the Bat lives. “Yeah, _there_ , where everything started”

Her eyes widened. Everyone who is someone knows the origin of Batman, hell, probably all Gotham does and decide to keep quiet about it. But did Tim really build his place where they killed his step grandparents?

“Anyway, is not Tim, he is at his apartment right now, I checked”

She squints at him. “But you know who it is, right? Someone who is connected to both of us, to Tim, but Jack and Janet are dead” Slade doesn’t say anything and she frowns. “They are dead, _right?”_

Instead of answering he takes out his phone and sends a text, Dinah feels her phone vibrate but she doesn’t take her eyes out of Slade.

He sighs. “Jack is dead, yes”

“What about Janet?” Slade stares at her.

“She’s my sister Dinah, what do you think?”

She’s about to answer but something interrupts her.

Someone in front of the car.

“Hello little brother, I missed you too” the person smiles, standing with all their glory.

_Janet Drake._

_Fuck_.

She turns to point at Slade.

“This is your fault” she pokes his chest. “Your fucking family fault, if I had known you were siblings with Janet I would have never allowed Jack to marry her.”

Dinah checks the text he sent before getting out of the car.

**Today** 09:37 AM

**Pain in Olie’s ass.**

Was it too much to ask for you to stay dead?

_Seen by Unknown Number._

  
  


* * *

“I’ve been standing in front of that car for the last 5 minutes, you would imagine that doing what you do would make you more aware of your surroundings but apparently it doesn’t” they follow Janet out of the car.

“Your hair is white” of all the things he could have said that’s what Slade decides to point out.

“I’ll dye it, don’t worry, we have too many white haired people in the family, we don’t need another one” Janet answers back.

“Where are we going?” Slade asks.

“Better question, who are you?” Dinah stares at the back of Janet’s head, “how can we know that you are the real Janet Drake?”

Janet and Slade turn to stare at her with an expression asking her, are _you serious?_

“You know what, never mind, siblings only do that, I believe you” she replies tiredly. “But I’ll be happier and more easy to work with some proof, perhaps some blood and info”

Janet sighs.

“Get in the car, I’ll be back in 5 minutes, when I come back I want to hear your reasons of why you allowed Timothy to hyphenate his last name with Wayne’s, I’ll give you 15 minutes each, get your excuses ready” she enters the Manor and leaves them in front of a black car.

Slade stares at the door of the house. “She’s still the same” 

Dinah rolls her eyes and enters the car.

* * *

Slade is about to open the copilot door when Janet stops him.

”No, nope, you two are going to be in the back and I’ll be driving, I don’t want anyone stopping me because I have two criminals in my car” Janet explains.

Slade only shrugs and opens the back door. “They have made me sit in worse places”

“Don’t you think it’ll be more dangerous if they find out that a dead woman is the one driving?” Dinah asks as she gets in the back.

  
Janet puts on some sunglasses and scoffs. “They won’t stop me”

Dinah glances at Slade who is sitting next to her, he only shakes his head. “They won’t stop her, I don’t know why but they don’t do it, it’s as if they don’t see her”

She sighs and turns to look at Janet’s. “Did you bring the proof? I’m sure I have some blood kit in my bag”

Janet looks at her through the mirror. “Of course I have proof, who do you you are talking to?”

* * *

  
After showing them the proof they finally start answering Janet’s questions.

“Tim called me when he was staying with Bruce already”

Dinah looks at Slade. “Tim called you?”

He nods. “He told me I didn’t have to worry, that he was staying with someone else, I assumed he meant you, since Jack was in a coma and they didn’t have a way to contact me because Janet was dead”

She frowns and looks at her lap in deep thought. “They never called me, I didn’t even go to Janet’s funeral. I fought with some of Wayne’s lawyers because of that”

Janet hums. “And what about after Jack died? I looked it up and there was a timeframe where Tim didn’t stay with Wayne and suddenly he got adopted”

“I was out in a mission for a few months, when I came back he was Wayne’s new kid, I always wondered why Dinah didn’t take him”

“What are you talking about? My lawyers called me, they said he was staying with his uncle” she looks up and stares at him, “When Jack died I checked on Tim during a mission with the League, he confirmed me he was staying with his uncle, I thought he was trying not to say your name”

Janet is the one who voices their thoughts. “A fake uncle”

Dinah curses and Slade scowls.

“But why? We are his only family left” he says.

Janet purses her lips. “We always taught Tim to be independent, it is right to assume he didn’t want nor need any adult supervision” she frowns, “I don’t know how Wayne managed to get past his defenses but is something I’m going to find out” she rolls down her window, “And I’m going to find out now”

Dinah glances to what she’s seeing and finally recognizes where they are.

Crime Alley.

“Fuck Janie, you really want to get us killed” Slade mutters in the back.

But Dinah can’t really pay any attention because she realizes what they are doing here.

They parked in front of Tim’s apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for taking so long to post it!!! I actually had the whole chapter sitting there accumulating dust only waiting for me to get my head out of my ass  
> I’ll try to get the next chapter sooner but tbh I can’t make any promises:’(


End file.
